FISA Question...

[ColbertWatcher]

...okay, call me naive. but...

Why is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act being used as justification for spying on Americans?

Am I missing something?

Or is this just another example of the GOP "reforming" something so they can rewrite it to fit their scorched-Earth, blank-slate, shock-doctrine?




Help me, oh wise DUers!

[Robbien]

1. Because the stated purpose is not domestic calls, but calls

made to and from foreign countries.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. I think the plan has been to route ALL electronic communication through a server or node

outside the country, at which point- voila!- it becomes an "international communication".

Neat trick, huh?

And that pesky FISA law, with its minimal oversight, 72 hr. retroactive rubber stamp warrants, etc... is too "onerous".

Here are the questions I'd like answered: Who have they been spying on? Why? Why are they so terrified of even the slightest hint of oversight? And why, if this was done "in response to 9-11" did the program start in Feb. of 2001?

:shrug:

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Technically...

...if a call is made oustide the United States it's considered to have fallen under this definition of "foreign", does that include calls made using satellites? Which are clearly "outside the united States"? Or calls routed to call centers in India?

[Warren DeMontague]

4. None of that would surprise me.

Of course, if there is zero oversight, they can do whatever they want, and don't have to justify it to anyone.